


Negotiations of Space

by 29_WhiteLilies



Category: Rhett & Link
Genre: Consensual Infidelity, M/M, Multi, only time will tell..., or OT4 setup...?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-25
Updated: 2020-02-25
Packaged: 2021-02-28 03:21:50
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,339
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22886992
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/29_WhiteLilies/pseuds/29_WhiteLilies
Summary: Glimpses of Rhink from Jessie's perspective.I basically wrote a ficlet for tumblr and now my brain is forcing me to add to it... Nobody asked for this and it's probably all been done before (and better), but here we are...
Relationships: Christy Neal/Link Neal, Jessie McLaughlin/Rhett McLaughlin, Rhett McLaughlin/Link Neal
Comments: 6
Kudos: 30





	Negotiations of Space

**Author's Note:**

> Still no beta.  
> Still not a native speaker.  
> Still kinda uncomfortable with sharing my writing, but obviously not uncomfortable enough to spare you guys... xD

Just like most days, Jessie hears the sound of the front door opening exactly at the expected time. They agreed on this arrangement years ago, after the heady rush of creating internetainment had led to a few too many missed dinners and hushed fights behind closed bedroom doors in both of their households. She barely has two seconds to put a bookmark in between the pages of the autobiography she has been reading before Barbara is upon her in a whirl of excitement, demanding to be welcomed home. Over the happy whimpers of the furry creature in her lap, she calls out her usual greeting of “Hey baby!” to her husband, expecting him to come down the four steps to where she’s sitting on the couch at any moment. Instead, there’s a low grunt that hardly passes for anything, followed by a glimpse of his silhouette disappearing deeper into the house.

There is a slight pang of disappointment that threatens to settle in her chest, but she tries to push it down until she knows what she is dealing with. For a few seconds, she just listens to the sounds of the house around her. No muffled cursing like the few times they’ve lost some footage that set them back a few days, no slamming doors like when he’s frustrated because an idea did not work out the way they imagined it and, most importantly, no telltale sounds of a running shower like when he needs to calm down after a disagreement with Link that hasn’t been fully resolved because he knows that losing his temper with his best friend will only needlessly escalate the situation further. With none of the usual clues available to her, Jessie sets Barbara down with an affectionate head scratch and prepares to go blindly into the situation.

She finds Rhett sitting on his side of the bed, looking deceptively small with his elbows on his knees and his face in his hands. He doesn’t react when the bed dips slightly under her weight as she sits down next to him and her disappointment is slowly morphing into something closer to fear.

“Do you want to tell me what is going on?”

She keeps her voice as soft and casual as she can, knowing that pressing him to share will only make him close off completely.

Rhett only seems to curl further into himself. His fingers thread up into his hair, the knuckles white from the vice grip he uses to hold on to the thick strands like they are the only thing grounding him at this very moment. But Jessie knows him. Knows him better than he knows himself, no matter how ridiculously cheesy it sounds. At times, she thinks she might even know him better than Link but she is wise enough to leave some things unspoken. After all, the flood of protestations that _of course_ she knows him better, she’s _his wife_ and he _loves her_ with all of his heart wouldn’t do any of them any good.

Now, in this very moment, all that matters is that she knows a simple touch will do everything that words wouldn’t be able to accomplish. The wrecked sob that courses through him the second her small hand caresses his shoulder is all the proof she needs. When his eyes finally meet hers, they are as stormy and distraught as she has ever seen them, but, to her surprise, also completely dry, which, in many ways, is worse than any amount of tears.

“Oh Rhett…” she hears herself whisper, still unsure of what exactly she is dealing with but the pain on his features is enough for her to know that it must be bad. Her own heart is beating way too fast now and when he finally speaks, the words coaxed out of him by her thumb softly stroking the corner of his mouth in a rhythmic pattern, she barely hears him over her own blood rushing in her ears.

“Link kissed me.”

The world shifts, but instead of tilting off its axis entirely, it somehow rectifies itself and comes back into focus bit by bit.

“Oh… It’s okay, baby.” she says, realizing that she actually means the words as she’s speaking them. But Rhett doesn’t appear satisfied with her reaction judging by the way he clasps both of her hands in his and squeezes them just a bit too tight, his eyes still wild with sorrow.

“No, you don’t understand! He kissed me and- and I kissed him back” he chokes out, fueled by a sense of exasperation and urgency, like he’ll explode if the words stay inside of his head for just a second longer. She, on the other hand, is calm now. This is not some unforeseen catastrophe. It is not even surprising, if she‘s honest with herself.

“It just happened. I-I don’t know why, but I love you. I-”

“Rhett.”

“love you and I married _you_ , not him, and I’m so, so sorry-“

“Rhett.”

“that i did this to you. I don’t know what i‘d do without you and the boys-”

“ _Rhett_ , baby.”

“I…” His attention finally snaps back to her.

“It’s alright. I mean it.” And she does.

“But…”

“I’ve been waiting for this day since you introduced us. I’ll never forget it. That boy looked at me with these bright blue eyes and it was the most intense thing I had ever seen. First, I thought he just hated me, but then I saw the way he looked at you, the way you looked at each other, and it all made sense. One long conversation with Christy and a little while later, I knew you were the love of my life. Just like you are his and he is yours and that’s okay."

There are finally tears in Rhett’s eyes when he pulls her in for a bruising kiss, interrupted by a fresh set of sobs. He tastes like salty tears and home. Only then, Jessie realizes that she is crying too and she reflexively clutches the front of his shirt a little harder.

 _“You_ are the love of my life” he protests when they come up for air, their foreheads pressed against each other, lips barely an inch apart.

Jessie just shrugs and kisses him again.

“Never said I wasn’t.”

They hold each other in silence for a little while longer, until the sound of the boys coming in from the backyard brings them back to the present.

“There’s pizza for dinner. Come down when you’re ready“ she tells Rhett and squeezes his hand reassuringly before she leaves for the kitchen.

Locke and Shep are already bickering over who gets how many slices of pizza when she walks in. On a whim, she throws her arm around her boys and kisses their curls. 

“Mom!“ Locke whines and dramatically winds from her loose hold while Shepherd giggles and snuggles up to her. The chuckle that makes its way out of her spreads through her chest like a warm wave of contentment. She knows how lucky she is. 

****

Later that night, when the boys are fast asleep, Rhett wraps his arms around her like he‘s afraid she‘ll disappear if he doesn’t hold her close enough. When he pushes into her, face buried in her hair, whispering into her ear how much he loves her with every urgent, deep thrust, she just holds on to him and allows herself to be completely swept up in the moment. It’s raw and intense and beautiful, and if they both shed a few more tears in the midst of it, they just hold on tighter and wait for it to pass.

Jessie briefly catches herself thinking that there should be a feeling of loss. A hole in their bond. An imperfection in the shape of a skinny boy with piercingly blue eyes. But somehow, there’s none of that. It may not seem logical, but in some ways, the day’s events have made her husband even more hers than he‘d ever been before.


End file.
